Opinions often vary, but there’s a solid consensus that the Chrysler Corporation’s stylists missed the mark with the 1961 Dodge.
Polara Hardtop Sedan
With only love and kindness, we observe that maybe 1961 was not the finest hour for the Dodge division at the Chrysler Corporation—in styling, anyway. We’re not alone in that view. Writing for Collectible Automobile magazine in 1999, noted Chrysler stylist and historian Jeff Godshall flatly stated that Dodge’s styling for ’61 was “clearly a major misstep.” In fact, he noted that across the corporation’s product lines that year, the exterior designs were “odd, eccentric, or just plain bizarre.”
So what went wrong? Had Chrysler styling vice president Virgil Exner, the father of the Forward Look, finally lost his mojo? Godshall reports that with Exner recovering from a heart attack, there wasn’t a clear leader in his place. And it’s likely the chaos in the automaker’s executive suites at the time was leaking its way into the design studios as well. Godshall notes that the ’61 styling theme at Dodge was compromised from the start, in that it was actually a facelift of the 1960 package and came out with the wrong proportions. The grille was much too large for the headlamps, he also offered. “The theme probably looked good in the original sketch,” he diplomatically observed. But that’s enough about the styling. After all, beauty’s only skin deep.
Dart Pioneer 4-Door Sedan
The Dodge line for ’61 featured two distinct models, the low-priced Dart and the traditional full-sized, mid-range Polara. Launched in 1960, the Dart was based on the 118-in wheelbase Plymouth platform and priced accordingly. “Priced model for model with Ford and Chevrolet,” Dodge boasted, and therefore with Plymouth, too, unfortunately. Three Dart trim levels—Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix—covered a spread of $2,200 to $3,000, directly on top of Plymouth. Dart styling mirrored the senior Polara theme, with the same reverse fins or “elephant ears” as the stylists called them, in the rear quarter panels, but with a more modest tail lamp treatment.
Polara Hardtop Sedan
The Polara was based on a 122-in wheelbase version of the corporate Unibody platform shared with the Chrysler Newport, and offered in six body styles, including a convertible and two station wagons, six or eight passenger. (They were priced like the Chrysler Newport as well in the $3,000-$3,400 range.) While the new-for-1960 Slant 6 was the base engine in the Dart, the Polara received a B-series 361 cubic-inch V8 with 265 hp as standard equipment. Both the Dart and Polara were available with the D-500 Ram Induction V8 with 383 CID and 330 hp, instantly recognizable for its intake manifold that sprawled nearly across the engine compartment. (See our feature here.)
Dart Phoenix Hardtop Coupe
Dodge sales and production plummeted 27 percent in 1961 to around 270,000 cars, but we can’t say the styling was entirely to blame. The new-for-’61 Lancer compact stanched the bleeding somewhat with 75,000 deliveries, but meanwhile, the low-priced Dart was murdering Polara sales, which amounted to barely 14,000 that year, and stealing Plymouth volume, too. And the similar Chrysler Newport outsold the Polara by more than six to one. Within this tangle of competing brands (and the cancellation of DeSoto) the automaker’s total volume fell by nearly 25 percent in 1961. Things would get better at Dodge and the Chrysler Corporation, but not before they got worse.
Dart Phoenix Hardtop Coupe
I would love to see pictures of the alternate clay renderings that didn’t make it, and earlier drawings of the design proposals, just to see where they were coming from to end up there. And, God help me, I’ve always liked the design (likewise the ’62 Plymouth and Dodge).
I have always liked the Polara, too. Styling is a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’. The public bitches at things looking the same, then they do something different, they bitch because it’s different. Can’t win for losing.
I’m like that with a lot of cars. For example, I used to despise the ’58-’60 Lincolns, found them totally grotesque. Now that I understand the era better, I can appreciate where they were at and where they were coming from, and I can enjoy them for what they are. -mcg
Ugly car, period. In 1957, Mopar “won” the styling wars only to bring out cars that looked increasingly bizarre & unappealing in the years to follow. The “elephant ears” have alse been described as “reverse fins”, since they’re higher in front than in the rear. I wonder if the claim by Mopar a couple of years earlier that their fins were “vertical stabilizers” fit these as well? Chrysler is damned lucky that they were able to overcome the damage that their reputation took with the rust & quality issues, increasingly bizarre styling, (the “toilet seat” faux spare tire cover & ridiculous fins), & terrible mismanagement of the company from 1957-1961.
Chrysler Corp was still dealing with the fallout from the quality issues of the 57s and 58s. Owners of those cars would be hesitant to repeat an Mopar purchase. And let’s face it the styling on the Plymouths and Dodges was ugly and styling sells cars. At least the Plymouths looked good from the side and rear, but both had such ugly faces. And this coming from a Mopar fan.
How quaint it feels to look back on an era when corporate mistakes at least gave us some quirky-looking sedans or maybe as bad as throwing some supplier work to a local company where your wife owns stock. Seems lightyears away from incentivizing a CEO in another country to cut thousands of jobs, off-shore everything, stop producing popular products to replace them with unsuitable re-badges, then pay that same clown 10 million euro to “go away”. At least a 1961 Dodge somehow makes me want to find an angle to love; while a 2023 Dodge Hornet makes me want to feed a crusher.
Did they miss the mark? For most people, absolutely. But for me, always wanting to follow a different drummer, I find them absolutely adorable. If I had been in the market then for a car, I don’t think I could have resisted a Mopar product. I would love to find one even today.
I thought the 61 Dodges and Plymouths were super ugly when they came out, but I like them a lot better now – at least the 2dr hardtop and convertible versions. The other models are still ugly. Same for the 62s – I really like the convertibles, 2dr hardtops are OK, rest are ugly.
The 1961 Dart suffered from another issue. The original tail lights on sedans, hardtops and convertibles were small, located just above the back bumper and wrapped around the side. You actually got a better view of the tail lights from the side of the car rather than straight behind you. In mid-year Dodge put round tail lights on the rear fenders more or less in line with the trunk lid because of consumer–and police department–complaints. Dart wagons suffered the problems of the Polaras with those so-called “ingrown toenail” tail lights. Humorous observation: Dodge! Really!! Used!!! Too!!!! Many!!!!! Exclamation!!!!!! Points!!!!!!! in their advertising for 1961…